“God Gives His Servants Nearsighted Vision and Farsighted Faith”
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. [Amen.]
“When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of death and hell’s destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises
I will ever give to Thee;
I will ever give to Thee.
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
918:3)
Old Testament Reading........................................ dEUTERONOMY
34:1-12 (esp. 1-4)
1Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of
Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land,
Gilead as far as Dan, 2all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all
the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3the Negeb, and the Plain, that
is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4And the
Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac,
and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it
with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.”
Prologue: I’ve had to wear prescription eyeglasses to correct my vision
almost all my life. It’s not because I can’t see things that are far away …
I can see them since I’m farsighted. However, I have difficulty seeing
things that are close to me, especially when reading … I lack
nearsightedness. That’s especially bothersome since I enjoy reading which
is a major necessity for doing pastoral activities—when leading worship,
studying for sermons, and preparing for Bible classes.
[Tomorrow / Today] is Transfiguration Sunday, also tagged as the
Last Sunday after the Epiphany. This occasion commemorates the event when
Jesus revealed, manifested, made known the fullness of His divine nature in
a most spectacularly visible way to Peter, James, and John. They were
privileged to be at a location from which they could look back some three
decades to the birth of Jesus and forward to His not-too-distant crucifixion
and resurrection. At the same time, they were able to see up close and
personal Him in whom “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” (Col
1:19 ESV) In addition, they saw also up close and personal Moses and
Elijah, who had lived and testified to the promised Messiah many centuries
earlier and whose presence with Jesus manifested Him as the fulfillment of
all the Old Testament Law and prophecies about the coming Messiah.
In light of that realization, Moses’ appearance with Jesus
points our attention back in time to today’s Old Testament Reading. It’s
the Spirit-inspired record of Moses’ death and burial before which God
allowed him to look over the Jordan River and see the Promised Land, to the
brink of which he had led the Israelites. Not only did he see the land
itself but he looked beyond and saw the heavenly Promised Land that awaited
him … and all who confidently rely on Christ for forgiveness of sins,
salvation, and eternal life. That event illustrates with accurate Old
Testament history that …
“God Gives His Servants Nearsighted Vision and Farsighted Faith.”
A little background information provided by The Lutheran Study
Bible will hopefully benefit you. “The conclusion of [Deuteronomy] signals
a transition in leadership from Moses to Joshua, a transition from the oral
communication of the Word to the written communication of the Word, a
transition from the wilderness wanderings to the eventual occupation of the
Promised Land. Moses’ final messages to the people include both warnings
(in the words of a song) and promises (in the words of a blessing). The
promises in Moses’ blessing point to the One ‘counted worthy of more glory
than Moses’ (Heb 3:3 [ESV]), namely Christ, because while Moses was a
faithful servant of God who spoke God’s Word, Christ is Son of God (Heb
3:6), whom God appointed heir of all things (Heb 1:2). ‘For the law was
given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ’ (Jn 1:17
[ESV]). Although Moses disqualified himself from entering the Promised Land
because of his disobedience, God allowed him to see firsthand the
fulfillment of all Scripture, for Moses and us, at Christ’s
transfiguration.” (The Lutheran Study Bible. Edward A. Engelbrecht,
General Editor. Copyright © 2009 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
Page 334.) So it was that …
I. God Decreed Moses’ Death and Personally Buried Him. (5-8)
5So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according
to the word of the Lord, 6and he buried him in the valley in the land of
Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this
day. 7Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his
vigor unabated. 8And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of
Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were
ended.
Death is UGLY! Many people who don’t have the assurance of
eternal life in heaven after earthly death due to their denial and rejection
of Jesus Christ—and even some faithful Christians as well—are frightened by
death. Death was not and is not God’s will … except for the death of His
only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, whose death atoned for the sins of all
people of all time. Because death is ugly a significant part of the
after-death ritual in our culture includes skilled artistry to “make over”
the dead person in an intense effort to hide the death appearance.
But, since death was never and is not now God’s will, why do we
die? The opening chapters of Genesis provide the answer. There Moses wrote
under the Holy Spirit’s divine inspiration that shortly after creating Adam,
“… the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree
of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall
not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” (Gen
2:16-17 ESV) Because “The Bible views a person as a whole being—physical
and spiritual together” (The Lutheran Study Bible. Page 17.) the death that
Adam would die if he disobeyed God was a both-and death … both physical and
spiritual. Physical death was and still is the departure of your immortal
soul from your mortal body, immediate ascension into heaven or descent into
hell, and future reunion with your resurrected body. Spiritual death was
and still is simply separation from God, who created your body with a soul
and is the source of your body’s life.
God proclaimed this same message through His prophet-servant
Ezekiel who recorded God’s terse declaration, “The soul who sins shall die.”
(Ezek 18:4 & 20 ESV) That gruff message that appeared twice in chapter 18
summarized that chapter in which it’s found. That divine message meant that
“Since all souls were created by [Him], He guides their destinies and judges
them. Death is the punishment for unrepentant sinners.” In addition, an
early church theologian, Gregory of Nyssa, explained, “Now sin is nothing
else than alienation from God, Who is the true and only life.” (The Lutheran
Study Bible. Page 1337.)
When Adam and Eve succumbed to Satan’s temptation to disobey (sin
against) God, He unleashed the full fury of His righteous anger against
them. Work that had been pleasurable became drudgery. Childbearing that
would have been simple and easy became painful and difficult. Their marital
relationship that God intended to be a peaceful coexistence became loaded
with challenges, difficulties, and contention. But the ultimate sour note
was stone-cold death and their attempt to hide from the great Judge, God
Himself.
Praise the Lord that He did not abandon them … nor does He abandon
you when you sin. He went to Adam and Eve and promised them atoning
salvation through the future God-man Messiah. In like manner, He seeks and
finds you when you try to hide from Him by ignoring, denying, or
rationalizing your sin. In response to your confession He speaks
compassionate words of mercy and grace to you, reminding you that Jesus
lived the holy life He demands of you but you’re unable to live; suffered
the righteous punishment you deserve but desire to escape; died the death
that God willed for Him to die as the sacrificial “Lamb of God, who takes
away the sin of the world” (John 1:29 ESV) and whose shed blood “cleanses us
from all sin,” (1 John 1:7 ESV); and arose from the dead thereby positively
proving that “A. Christ is the Son of God; B. His doctrine is the truth; C.
God the Father accepted Christ’s sacrifice for the reconciliation of the
world; [and] D. all believers in Christ will rise to eternal life.” (Luther’s
Small Catechism with Explanation. Copyright © 1986/1991 Concordia
Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Pages 139f.) He generously and graciously
gives you those Gospel messages in His Holy Word, Holy Baptism, Holy
Absolution, and Holy Communion.
Yes, Moses’ miraculous presence with Jesus at His Transfiguration
after having died some 14 hundred years earlier reminded Peter, James, and
John that Jesus, who had not yet died but would soon do so bearing the sins
of all people of all time, was the fulfillment of God’s Holy Law … for
them … and for you … and for me. Following his physical death and divine
burial, Scripture states that …
II. God Had Blessed Moses with Prominence, Power, and Prestige. (9-14)
9And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had
laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the
Lord had commanded Moses. 10And there has not arisen a prophet since in
Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11none like him for all
the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt,
to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 12and for all the
mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight
of all Israel.
“Although Elijah heard the ‘gentle whisper’ of the Lord (1 Kings
19:12-18) and Ezekiel saw the indescribable majesty of the Lord (Ezekiel
1:4-28), no other prophet could claim what Moses claimed[,namely]: ‘The Lord
would speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks with his friend’ (Exodus
33:11).
“Moses’ service was unequaled also because he performed more
miraculous signs by the Lord’s power than any Old Testament prophet before
or after him. Elijah and Elisha each raised a young man from the dead (1
Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:18-35), and Elijah withstood the prophets of Baal
at Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:20-46), but Moses’ miraculous signs stand above
those of Elijah and Elisha. His mighty deeds were pivotal in rescuing
Israel from Egypt’s slavery and bringing them through the wilderness to the
edge of the land.
“Moses died, but this wasn’t the last time he appeared in God’s
unfolding salvation plan. [14 centuries] later, he and Elijah came to stand
in glorious splendor on a mountain in Galilee with Jesus. As Peter, James,
and John looked on, Jesus was transfigured before them, and Moses and Elijah
‘spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at
Jerusalem’ (Luke 9:31)[, namely, His sacrificial crucifixion death to atone
for your transgressions]. Moses the great lawgiver and Elijah the bold
prophet voiced their approval of Jesus’ important mission at Calvary’s
cross. [You] can’t save [yourselves] by obeying laws. [You] can be saved
only because a perfect Substitute traded places with [you], obeyed every law
[you] failed to keep, and died to atone for every time [you’ve] failed.
“The writer to the Hebrews put Moses’ career, great as it was, in
proper perspective [as we heard in today’s Epistle Reading]: [‘… consider
Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to
him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house.
For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses … . Now Moses
was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that
were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son.’
(Heb 3:1b-3a, 5-6a ESV)]
“No prophet had arisen in Israel like Moses [and Elijah], until
Jesus. This great law finally gave way to an even greater gospel.” (Mark E.
Braun in People’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy. Copyright © 1995 Concordia
Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Pages 346f.)
In conclusion, therefore, you may have noticed that this sermon
seems to have been mostly about Moses and somewhat about Elijah. That’s an
accurate nearsighted vision. However, because both of them proclaimed,
served, and wrote about the coming Messiah they exhibited a farsighted
faith. They were doing then what the Father instructed Peter, James, and
John as well as all of you who are God’s contemporary servants listening
today to do in the words of today’s Gospel Reading, “And a voice came out of
the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!’” (St Luke
9:35 ESV) You can do so because, as with the Old Testament prophets and New
Testament apostles …
“God Gives His Servants Nearsighted Vision and Farsighted Faith.”
Do so constantly contemplating the words of today’s Collect, “… in the
glorious Transfiguration of Your beloved Son You confirmed the mysteries of
the faith by the testimony of Moses and Elijah. In the voice that came from
the bright cloud You wonderfully foreshowed our adoption by grace.
Mercifully make us co-heirs with the King of His glory and bring us to the
fullness of our inheritance in heaven.”
Do so also realizing and rejoicing over the personal nature of God
toward His saints, that is, all who by Spirit-given faith receive and
confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He demonstrated His personal
nature when, as recorded in today’s sermon text, …
I. God Decreed Moses’ Death and Personally Buried Him. (5-8)
It’s your privilege to respond to that reality with the Gradual that
has been part of the divine services throughout this Epiphany season,
namely, “Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great
is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures
forever.” (Ps 117:1-2a ESV)
But that’s not all there is; here’s the rest of the story.
II. God Had Blessed Moses with Prominence, Power, and Prestige. (9-14)
In fact, “From the letter of Jude, v. 9, we know that the archangel
Michael contended with the devil for the body of Moses. Thus God, through
His angel, saved the body of Moses from the last consequence of death under
the control of Satan, from corruption. The body of Moses was taken to
heaven after his burial and there changed to a spiritual body. Thus it was
possible for Moses to appear with Elijah[,whom God took to heaven without
experiencing physical death,] at the transfiguration of Christ. This fact
gives us a strong guarantee for the final fulfillment of our hope, of the
resurrection of the body.” (Paul E. Kretzmann in Popular Commentary of the
Bible: The Old Testament, Volume I. Copyright © 1923 Concordia Publishing
House, St. Louis, MO. Page 362.)
Today’s Introit gives a most beautiful and meaningful response of
praise, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs,
yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to
the living God. Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your
anointed! For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and
honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” (Ps
84:1-2, 9, 11 ESV)
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
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